The other day I had a game with my friend Joe, who is new to wargaming. He likes a good game though, especially if it involves rolling dice, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy having to make tactical decisions.
I wanted to come up with a simple scenario that would be more interesting than the standard pitched battle, with some elements of randomness and surprise.... That would give Joe some choices to make, but wouldn't require any in depth knowledge of battlefield tactics or history.
Here's the layout, with Joe's army on the right, defending. I would be attacking, and the 'random' factor would be where my units enter from. I said that my vanguard had hurried on ahead and attacked rashly - they would enter on turn 1 from a random point (A, B or C). I set up the centre of Joe's army for him, with his artillery, crossbowmen and halberdiers in good positions inside the village - I then let him choose which flanks to place his cavalry and two pike units on - not knowing where I'd be coming from, he opted for pikes on each flank, and his right flank being the strongest with both the larger Swiss unit and the heavy cavalry.
On turn one my vanguard (one heavy cavalry unit and one light cavalry unit) entered from the far end of the table, near to Joe's strong right flank. I made sure to play to fit the rash character I'd given them, and they headed straight for Joe's battleline, intending to charge. He could counter charge with his own heavy cavalry, but acted cautiously and waited, wary of my light unit outflanking him.
On turn 2, I rolled secretly to see where my main infantry force would be coming on... but that wouldn't be until turn 3. With that knowledge, I was now allowed to put my third cavalry unit on the table, entering from the point of my choice... The idea being that my general had sent them on ahead to avert the potential catastrophe of my vanguard's rash attack! I put them on the far right to act as a diversion.... unknown to Joe, my main infantry force would also be entering on my far left behind my vanguard. Joe sent his left-flank pike unit forward, which perhaps wasn't the wisest move. His crossbowmen and artillery were managing to weaken my units sufficiently.
On turn three my large infantry division entered, led by my general, on my left flank... So I was throwing all my weight against Joe's strong right.
Meanwhile my diversionary cavalry on my right flank avoided his pikemen and had a go at charging his guns. His halberdier unit stepped forward to defend them, and his crossbowmen inflicted severe casualties with their cross-fire as my cavalry charged in...
And were driven off....
On my left flank, the cavalry of my vanguard charged Joe's own cavalry, who countercharged..... It was tense, as they were evenly matched.... Whoever won this combat could determine how the game progressed next.....
It was a draw!!!! Their formations broke up as a swirling melee got under way, and my light cavalry joined in.
My infantry advanced, and my right-wing cavalry regrouped. Joe's crossbowmen were proving effective, and he moved his artillery forward to get into a better position for next turn.
The cavalry melee actually went on for several turns... But eventually Joe's side got the upper hand. My two cavalry units were sent running.... But suddenly Joe's victorious unit found themselves about to be caught by my infantry. One of my units charged, and Joe's cavalry retreated out of the way. It was now time for his Swiss pike to step up.
As my infantry and Joe's Swiss closed on eachother, I sent the remnants of my cavalry units to harass his other pike unit, but they formed square and dared me to charge... I didn't take the bait.
So it came down to the newly painted Swiss pikemen to carry the day.... They swept into my infantry, and despite being outnumbered pushed them back... and broke them! That included my general, who I like to think was captured as his men fled in disarray in the face of the Swiss onslaught.
And with that the game was over! Joe won, which is good as nobody wants to lose their first ever game. But it was very close throughout, and there were difficult decisions for both of us to make. The game ran very smoothly....
However, despite this game being a success, I've bizarrely found my post-game thoughts leading to me wanting to completely rethink my rules and how I've based my units!!!
25 January 2014, 08:31:28 PM
